Sole for golf shoes and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

The present invention refers to a sole for golf shoes comprising a plantar structure ( 1 ) and a heel ( 2 ), characterized in that said plantar ( 1 ) is constituted by a multilayer structure comprising an external sole ( 7 ) made of leather material or other derivatives that constitutes the track, incorporating a set of holes to receive the containers ( 4 ), coupled by means of gluing to an insole ( 6 ) constructed in micro material, rubber, Eva, or mixtures thereof, incorporating a torn area in the inner front region, which is filled with a filling layer by means of an injection system, with TR, TPU, PVC or other derivatives assuring the fixing of the containers. The sole for golf shoes with the above features assures the improvement of the flexibility, lightness, breathability and impermeability of the footwear, assuring the user a better comfort, as well as this construction method assures a better simplification and reduction of the involved labor.

SCOPE OF THE INVENTION

This invention refers to a new type of golf shoe sole unit as well as to its manufacturing/production method, this sole is built/constructed by the joining/assembling of different materials such as leather or other rubber based materials, other thermoplastic materials and or ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), using a new type of construction method that combines the vulcanization technology, the injection technology and the traditional hand built unit pre-fabrication shoe sole construction method.

The built unit or pre-manufactured sole described in this invention will be in itself a finished product, a golf shoe sole ready to be applied directly to the respective upper part of the shoe/footwear, by means of any normal sole/shoe assembly methods currently in use, such as glued/cemented, sewing/stitched, or similar, and which will ensure a greater level of comfort, namely greater lightness, greater flexibility, greater isolation against moisture absorption, among others.

The proposed construction method will result in a reduction of the shoe manufacturing costs involved due to its simpler method of applying-attaching the finished sole to the golf shoe upper as well as allowing for a better aesthetic of the golf shoe/sole side and general view.

This invention intends on making available to the golf shoe market a higher quality golf shoe at a more reasonable cost/price.

The following features such as technical quality, comfort, aesthetics and shoe construction as well as cost effectiveness have until now not been available in the golf shoe market when considered together as a whole package in the same shoe/sole.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The recurrent and persisting problems related to golf shoe soles have deserved a particular interest on behalf of the golf consumer market, this relates to the global golf growth as a sport as well as due to the fact that these are high value products, that target a consumer group with high expectations and demands in regard to the quality and comfort standards in most golf related products it acquires, namely golf shoes.

Golf soles are commonly available although have remained particular being used/applied only to the golf shoes, the type of golf soles currently available are however not efficient when one takes into consideration the full joint scope of the needed quality, comfort, flexibility, lightweight, aesthetic quality and cost efficient golf shoe manufacturing process.

When taking into account the existing different manufacturing processes there are two main types of golf shoe soles manufacturing processes available in the golf shoe manufacturing market, the golf shoe injected soles, constructed through thermoplastic injection technology into a metal mould and the Goodyear welted hand made type of construction sole that is handcrafted or assembled together with the shoe upper during the Goodyear welted shoe construction process.

The injected golf shoe soles are cost effective, cheaper, however they are a synthetic finished product, made in TR, TPU, PVC, PU and or other thermoplastic compounds that result in a lower quality product when heat or moisture insulation is considered, not the healthiest environment for one's feet as usually happens when synthetic materials are applied in the manufacture of soles or shoes.

The Goodyear welted sole construction is by tradition a hand made leather sole that is breathable and naturally healthier however the downside being that its construction/manufacturing process/method demands that it is stitched to the welt that has already been stitched to the shoe upper making the sole a hard, heavy, non flexible product as well as easily absorbing external moisture, thus becoming very unhealthy and uncomfortable.

The Goodyear welted sole construction demands a lot of hand work due to the fact that it is manufactured in a sequence of shoe construction processes, being hand built step by step together and on to the shoe upper, therefore engaging a longer, more costly and very complex manufacturing process.

The sole that is built in this method cannot be considered a finished independent product in itself because its construction is inherent to the shoe construction process, it is not a separate finished component that can be independently applied to the shoe upper as it happens nowadays in the most common cost effective manufacturing processes.

This complex construction method of attaching the sole to the shoe upper makes the Goodyear welted shoe an hard, non flexible uncomfortable and expensive golf shoe.

In view of the above, it needs to be pointed out that until now there have never been any golf shoe soles with the features proposed and described by the above mentioned invention, a finished, independent and separate sole for golf shoes, ready to be applied directly to the shoe upper, ensuring the mentioned properties of comfort, lightness, flexibility, breathability, impermeability, manufactured through a simple, cheap, cost effective and easier shoe construction method, ensuring at the same time the aesthetic quality required in a quality golf shoe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention, a sole for golf shoes, hereby presented, relates to the creation of a totally new product that is to be applied to golf footwear, with the following technical features such as greater lightweight, greater flexibility, greater breathability, less external moisture absorption, aiming to provide a higher level of comfort to the golf shoe user, without compromising the aesthetic quality of the golf shoe/sole which will be achieved through a simpler manufacturing construction method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed descriptions outlined in the following items are presented correlated to the attached drawings in a manner that should be considered merely referenced as:

FIG. 1—is a schematic representation of the finished sole for golf shoes, as a side-top and bottom view;

FIG. 2—is a schematic representation of the different layers that when attached/assembled, cemented/glued and or stitched become the top structure of the sole;

FIG. 3—is a schematic representation of the heel in its different layers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to solve the previously identified difficulties and problems, through the present invention a new type of golf shoe sole was developed as per the described production method thereof, which is characterized by the combined use of leather or other materials together with rubber based materials, or EVA, or a mixture of both thereof, and, or injection materials such as TR, TPU, PVC or similar, manufactured/constructed in complementary layers that are cemented/glued or stitched between themselves, in such a way that this assembly will ensure good flexibility, lightweight, breathability, impermeability levels, this is achieved through a simple manufacturing/construction method that ensures cheap cost effective quality levels.

As it can be seen in FIG. 1, this golf shoes sole invention, being presented is mainly made of a top part of the sole (1) and a heel (2) coupled on the base. Seen from top the top part of the sole (1) includes a front area (3) filled with injected material, or not, that include metal golf receptacles (4) and a welt (5) that follows the contour of the sole. Seen from the bottom the golf shoe sole shows the included metal golf receptacles, that will allow the attachment of the respective golf cleats/spikes that will enable a firmer grip of the golf shoe to the ground/grass. With reference to FIGS. (1) and (2), the separate top part of the sole (1) is made up by the combination or attachment of several different layers between themselves, namely:

-   -   a layer (7) in leather or other material commonly used for         soles, this layer is the base or track of the golf shoes sole,         this layer (7) has a set of holes (8) in the front region         intended to allow the insertion and fixing of the golf cleat         receptacles (4). This layer (7) has an average thickness in the         range of 3-6 mm, although other thicknesses out of this range         may also be applied upon any client's request. These holes (8)         are made as vertical recesses and their diameter will be as per         the diameter of the golf cleat receptacles (4) that are to be         applied and which are commonly available in the market for this         purpose.     -   a layer (6) constituting a through or insole that has been cut         from a sheet made from rubber based materials, or any other         materials commonly used for sole such as EVA, micro or a mixture         of rubber and EVA. This insole or through (6) presents itself in         a shape in accordance with the layer (7) and has an inside area         or part that has been cut out in the front region. These two         layers (6) and (7), sole and through or insole, respectively,         are overlapped and coupled between themselves by means of being         cemented/glued together, or any other joining method that         ensures the total adhesion between these two layers originating         in the sole set (9).

After the golf cleat receptacles (4) are inserted in the holes (8) and the injection of TR, TPU, PVC or other inject able material is performed in the area (3), being filled up to a thickness near to that of the layer (6), thus ensuring the fixing of the golf cleat receptacles (4), from this assembly the sole part (10) is made.

A welt or rand (5) is applied to this part of the sole (10) by means of cement/glue, stitching or other joining method, this welt or rand can be made out of leather material, leather board, rubber, thermoplastic rubber (TR), PVC plastic material, or other materials commonly available in the market for use in welts or rands, from this assembly the sole structure (1) of FIG. 1 is made.

In regard to FIG. (3) the heel is made of a top piece (11), which may be constructed by the injection of TR, TPU, PVC or other materials, or by rubber through a vulcanization process, included in the top piece (11)(bottom part in contact with the ground), in both cases during the injection or vulcanization processes, golf cleat receptacles similar to those of type (4) in FIG. 2) are inserted into the body of the top piece (11). The body of the heel (12) is coupled/attached to the top piece layer (11) by means of a cementing/gluing or injection or vulcanization process, the body of the heel (12) may be made of up to 2, 3 layers or more, depending on the required height of the heel, in a material that can be a agglomerated wooden compound, EVA, micro, PU, leather board, leather, injected thermoplastic or any other material currently available in the market, in this way the heel(2) of FIG. 1 is assembled.

The sole part component (1) and the heel part component (2) as in FIG. 1, are then coupled or assembled to each other by means of a cementing/gluing or injection process giving birth to the proposed golf shoe sole. 

1. The golf shoe sole born from the assembly of a sole part and a heel, in which the sole part consists of a multilayered structure made of an external layer which may be considered a base or track of the sole, a middle layer that is an insole or through, a filling layer, golf cleat receptacles and a welt, which when assembled together give birth to a top part of the sole that when attached to the heel that is applied to its bottom part, then becomes the golf shoe sole that may be considered a finished product ready to be applied directly to a shoe upper.
 2. The golf shoe sole according to claim 1, comprising an external layer which is made out of leather or other materials and has in the front region a set of holes, with a compatible diameter to that of the size of the golf cleat receptacles that are to be applied.
 3. The golf shoe sole according to claim 1, comprising a through/insole with an external contour pattern that is compatible to the pattern of the external layer, which has in it a part that has been cut out of the inside front region with a area and pattern that is compatible with the area of the sole support, allowing for an external edge, and this through/insole that is made from rubber material, EVA, micro, PU or a mixture thereof and is coupled/attached to the lower layer by cementing or gluing or any other similar joining method that will ensure the total adhesion of these two layers.
 4. The golf shoe sole according to claim 1, comprising a sole structure, that after the insertion of the golf cleat receptacles in the respective holes of the layer, incorporates a filling layer of injected material, TR, TPU, PVC or similar, EVA or other into the area that has been cut out of the layer, having a thickness near the thickness of the through/insole, ensuring the correct fixing of the golf cleat receptacles, as well as the suitable flexibility of the sole in the front part of the sole.
 5. The golf shoe sole according to claim 1, comprising a sole structure that joins the built unit pre-manufacturing sole construction technology consisting in the assembling of the layers, through/insole and sole, respectively, to the sole injection technology through the injection or gluing/cement filling of the forepart region layer, that when together with the materials in each layer of the sole structure, ensures a higher level of flexibility, lightweight, impermeability and breathability, ideal features that allow a global comfort as well as a cost effective simpler construction method that enables a reduction of the labor involved, as well as ensuring a higher aesthetic level on the side of the sole and shoe. 